Larry Bird

Basketball Player

• Born: December 7, 1956
• Place of Birth: West Baden Springs, Indiana

• SPORT: Basketball

Early Life

Larry Joe Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, on December 7, 1956. His father, Joe Bird, was a working man who had many jobs over the years. The family and the community at large were poor. His mother, Georgia Bird, and father divorced when Bird was in high school. His mom raised him and his five siblings by working multiple jobs but was primarily a waitress. Bird attributes his hardworking attitude to his difficult upbringing and to the lessons his mother taught him.

Bird’s family had sports as a common interest and goal. All five boys played every sport available to them, and Bird competed fiercely with his two older brothers. Baseball was Bird’s first love, but when he saw his brother become a hero in a high school basketball game, he became interested in the sport. He was a natural, but he refined his game with day-and-night practice.

The Road to Excellence

Bird played on the B team as a high school freshman. However, as he grew, he became the best player on his team and in Southern Indiana. After a successful senior year, he received a scholarship to Indiana University. The school of 33,000 was like a big city to him. Despite his success, Coach Bobby Knight and the rest of the team ignored him. Bird left Indiana University after a few months, which disappointed his family and friends. Like Knight and the Indiana team, they did not think Bird would amount to much. A year later, though, he found a place at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. His first year at the new school was difficult. His father committed suicide, and because he was a transfer student, Bird had to sit his first season out.

At Indiana State, Bird's game matured, and his shooting improved markedly. In his first two seasons at Indiana State, he averaged 30 points a game and was named first-team all-American. In his junior year, he turned a mediocre team into a contender for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship. He garnered a lot of attention because of his success. In 1979, his senior year, Bird took the team to the championship game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, where it lost to Magic Johnson and his Michigan State University team. The meeting between the two players was a harbinger of the next decade in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bird’s next stop was the Boston Celtics, who chose Bird in the first round of the 1978 NBA Draft.

The Emerging Champion

Bird knew little of the Celtics’ tradition, but he caught on quickly. In a few short years, he became an important part of their legacy. Before Bird’s arrival, the Celtics had fallen on hard times. In this first season, 1979–80, Bird led the Celtics to an excellent record. The team won thirty-two more games than in the previous year, the largest one-year improvement in NBA history at the time, and Bird was chosen the NBA’s rookie of the year. Boston was eliminated in the Eastern Conference playoffs by a powerful Philadelphia 76ers team, though. Bird needed more help to make the Celtics champions. In 1980, the Celtics acquired Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to team with Bird on one of the best front lines in NBA history, and the team cruised to an NBA Championship, defeating the Houston Rockets in the finals. The Celtics were champions, but Bird’s best years were still to come as he developed his already remarkable skills even further.

Bird had splendid 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons. However, the Celtics lost to Philadelphia and Milwaukee in the playoffs and did not repeat as champions. In the first game of the Milwaukee series, Bird suffered an injury when he bent his finger. He was to have continual problems with minor injuries to his back, feet, and hands, but he continued to play and to contribute to the Celtics’ success. In 1983, the Celtics acquired Dennis Johnson, an all-star point guard who worked beautifully with Bird. Johnson was the missing piece to the Celtics’ puzzle, and during the 1983–84 season, the team won the NBA title again, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in an exciting seven-game final. That year, Bird was named NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the first time. His play had reached such a level of excellence that some sportswriters began calling him the greatest player of all time. He prepared himself more fully over the off-season and came into the year with new range and power.

Continuing the Story

During the 1984–85 season, the Celtics lost a return match in the NBA Finals to the Lakers, and Bird’s old rival Johnson, the Lakers’ brilliant leader, emerged to challenge Bird for recognition as the game’s best player. In that series, Bird was guarded closely by the Lakers’ defensive wizard Michael Cooper, and Magic played superbly as the Lakers won in six games. Bird won the regular-season MVP award again, however. In 1985–86, Bird had one of his best seasons. He seemed to do everything for his team. Boston won the title again, and Bird was named MVP again.

In 1986–87, Bird had another fine year. He brought the Celtics back from certain defeat by stealing the ball with only seconds left in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Championship against the Detroit Pistons, and the Celtics returned to the finals. The Celtics lost to the Lakers again in the championship series, though, and Magic was named the league’s MVP for the first time. In 1987–88, Bird had a number of injuries, although he was able to score more points than in any other year of his career. His injuries caught up with him in the playoffs, and, this time, the Celtics lost to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1988–89, Bird managed to play in only six games. His foot injuries proved too great for him to come back and rescue his aging team.

Many people thought that Bird was finished as a great player, but he returned to action during the 1989–90 season and showed some flashes of his former greatness. The Celtics, however, were too thin, and the stellar front line of Bird, McHale, and Parish was tired. Boston lost in the first round of the playoffs. Johnson won the MVP award again, and Bird’s dominance seemed finished.

At this time, Bird met and married Dinah Mattingly. They adopted two children, a boy and a girl. Bird already had one daughter from a previous and brief marriage in 1975.

After having a disk removed from his back at the end of the 1990–91 season, Bird missed thirty-seven games during the 1991–92 season because of continuing back problems. Despite his back issues, Bird recovered enough for one final challenge and won a gold medal as a member of the 1992 US Olympic Dream Team. As the 1992–93 NBA season approached, Bird decided that his body could no longer stand up to the physical rigors of NBA play, and he retired.

After retiring as a player on August 18, 1992, Bird served as a special assistant in the Boston Celtics’ front office until 1997. During that time, he was actively involved in team personnel decisions and in scouting college players. Bird also appeared in three movies, including Blue Chips (1994) and Space Jam (1996) with Michael Jordan. In 1993, Bird also appeared in a McDonald’s advertisement alongside Jordan. Meanwhile, in 1996, Bird was named one of the fifty greatest NBA players of all time, and in 1999, he was named as one of the twenty best NBA players of all time.

On May 8, 1997, Bird accepted the job as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. He possessed the knowledge, skills, enthusiasm, experience, and ability to be an excellent coach. After only one year with the Pacers, Bird was named the NBA coach of the year. Declaring the 1999–2000 campaign to be his last, Bird coached the Pacers into the NBA Finals, where the team lost to the Lakers.

After coaching, in 2003, Bird returned to the Pacers organization as president of basketball operations. However, the Pacers did not have as much success with Bird in the front office as the team did with Bird as the coach. In 2008, the Pacers did not return to the Eastern Conference Finals. Though he was honored with the league's award for executive of the year in 2012, he was grudgingly forced to step down from his position as president not long after due to chronic back problems and other health issues. By June 2013, however, it was announced that Bird had returned to serve as the Pacers' president once more. He explained to interviewers that though he enjoyed spending time at his Indiana ranch and watching games on television, he longed to return to the sport. At the same time, the media frequently quoted him expressing concerns that he would not be able to live past his seventies due to his height and related heart issues. He stepped down from the role as president in 2017, but remained as an advisor until 2022 and then a consultant in 2023. Bird was inducted into the American Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Also in 2024, he spoke at the opening of the Larry Bird Museum at the Terre Haute Convention Center. He said that he hopes the museum will inspire young people to strive for greatness. The Larry Bird Museum contains photographs and quotations from throughout Bird's career. It also houses rare memorabilia, personal stories, and interviews.

Summary

Larry Bird will be remembered as the ultimate team player. He subordinated his scoring skills to such team elements as assists, steals, and rebounding. He was the epitome of an all-around basketball player. Critics said he could not jump, that he was too slow, and that he could not play defense, but he usually got the job done and led his team to victory. Bird also proved to be an effective NBA coach and, as president of basketball operations, worked tirelessly for the Pacers' organization.

Bibliography

Berger, Ken. "Larry Bird Back in the Game, Gives Pacers Another Shot." NBA. CBS Sports, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Bird, Larry, and Jackie MacMullan. Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love. New York: Warner, 1999. Print.

"Larry Bird Enshrined Into American Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024." Talk Basket, www.talkbasket.net/184507-larry-bird-enshrined-into-american-basketball-hall-of-fame-class-of-2024. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Lazenby, Roland. Bird: Portrait of a Competitor. Lenexa: Addax, 1998. Print.

“Legends Profile: Larry Bird.” National Basketball Association, www.nba.com/news/history-nba-legend-larry-bird. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Rubino, Michael. "Larry Bird's Greatest Shot Was the One He Didn't Take." Indianapolis Monthly. Indianapolis Monthly, 24 Dec. 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Shaw, Mark. Larry Legend. Chicago: Masters, 1999. Print.